Stuck at Prom® — 25+ Years of Annual Duct Tape Couture

Since 1999, the Duck Brand Stuck at Prom Scholarship Contest has issued an annual challenge: go to prom in an outfit made entirely from duct tape and win scholarship money. What started as a quirky brand promotion has become one of the most genuinely impressive annual DIY competitions in America. Each year, 150+ high school students from across the US and Canada spend hundreds of hours — sometimes over 200 — constructing floor-length gowns, three-piece suits, and full accessory sets from rolls of colored duct tape. The stakes have grown along with the artistry: grand prizes are now $15,000 per winner. Past entries have included kimono-inspired gowns, mariachi tuxedos, Rococo ballgowns modeled on 18th-century French art, and a tuxedo that transforms into a racing suit with a flip of the collar. The 2022 winner's dress hit 5 million TikTok views. The 2025 winner spent 176 hours on 31 rolls. The competition has been running continuously for a quarter-century — every year someone attempts to build something impossible out of tape, and every year someone succeeds.